


The Great Wheel Turns

by DGCatAniSiri



Category: Jade Empire
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-06 19:44:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20296957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DGCatAniSiri/pseuds/DGCatAniSiri
Summary: Ming contemplates what will come, now that Sun Li has been defeated.





	The Great Wheel Turns

The Imperial Palace was in a state of chaos, though the staff was doing their best to hide it. It was understandable, of course, considering what had happened. In the span of at most a few weeks (the passage of time being fuzzy when one dies and is resurrected by the Goddess of Life and Death), Emperor Sun Hai was killed, replaced by his brother, Sun Li, who’d been long believed dead. Sun Li had begun a rein of brutality, to reinforce his position while knocking down anyone who might question him. And then, only a short time into that brutal rein, Sun Li himself was killed, by the same man who’d slain Sun Hai. Now, Sun Hai’s daughter, Sun Lian, was preparing to take the throne.

The chaos was probably a good sign, meaning that those who were running around, arranging things, were aware of the bizarreness of all of this. But it was still chaos on top of chaos.

Ming was relieved not to be a part of it. Oh, Lian – Silk Fox, at least in private – would definitely call on him at some point, given the responsibility he carried in everything. He was the one who’d slain both of the previous Emperors. That would call attention under even the most ordinary circumstances, though probably it would normally have come with more calls for his head. But for the moment... He was able to breathe. To relax.

It was hard to accept. 

It had been a few weeks, maybe a month now, since the day a Lotus Assassin had shown up on the shore of Two Rivers’ beach. And in that time, so much had changed. Ming had grown up in a peasant’s life, the very idea that he’d even see the Imperial Palace up close had been a wild, fanciful dream. And now, he rested in a room in it. Counted the Empress (soon to be, but formalities...) among his closest friends, even.

In that time, Ming had mastered multiple new styles, many that he’d never even dreamed of before, and lost a number of friends to a fight that he’d been thrust into by the manipulations of a man he’d considered the closest he’d had to a father. And then that same man had turned out to be the one who had masterminded him becoming an orphan. 

A part of Ming still loved Master Li as a father. That was the part that hurt the most. Li had been the closest Ming had ever had to a father, and he bore that affection for the man. But it was also because of Li that he’d lost his true father, his mother, his people, his heritage. There was so much of the Spirit Monks that was gone forever – even if he spent every waking moment of his life trying to recover what had been lost in the Emperor’s assault, planned by Li, for everything he uncovered, at least five more would be gone forever. 

What might his life have been without Li, he wondered. 

The ornate nature of the room he’d been given was much more than he’d even dreamed of seeing. Just a painting on the wall would have set up any villager back in Two Rivers for life. (Ming tried to not think about how everyone in Two Rivers was now dead.) Master Li’s home at the school could have fit in here with room to spare. 

He may now be connected to people in the highest reaches of the Empire (because not only was Lian or Silk Fox, whichever mask she wore on a given day, the Empress, Dawn Star was a cousin, which gave her at least some kind of capital letter Imperial authority, though Ming doubted that Dawn Star would ever utilize it, preferring the life of a commoner to a daughter of the Imperial lineage), but... He still felt provincial. He still felt like he was out of place among all the trappings of Imperial... Well, in truth, he found it to be emblematic of excess and decadence, the indications of Sun Hai’s arrogance and greed, that he wanted his Palace filled with glorious treasures no other eyes could see.

He wouldn’t say such to Lian’s face, even aware of the damage her father had done to his own image in her eyes, but he was glad to know that Sun Hai and his selfishness were a thing of the past.

That aside, however, he was far, far outside his element. Ming HIT THINGS. He’d trained his whole life at a school for martial arts. There were associated disciplines with those martial arts, but, at the end of the day, he was not the one suited for building things, for piecing the remains of a broken system back together, to putting the Empire right again. And he certainly had no idea how to rebuild the Spirit Monk order – he’d never considered a life of quiet contemplation, which, didn’t the “monk” part of that name imply?

Granted, the Spirit Monks had also clearly had martial skills. That had been obvious from the fighting he’d seen in the spirit world – even acknowledging that the enemies there were locked in a war that had been fought twenty years before, leaving all combatants dead, Ming had seen more Imperial soldiers picking themselves off the ground, literally shaking off injuries that any mortal would have called fatal, than he had Spirit Monks. 

He’d wondered if he’d passed his parents in that fracas, and had never even known it.

That wasn’t exactly something he was inclined to spend much time thinking about – his parents were always going to be a mystery. And, to bring his thoughts full circle, it was because of Master Li.

He sighed, collapsing backwards on the bed – the far too large bed. Maybe it’d be the right size for Black Whirlwind, but he was, to put it mildly, something of a freak of nature (it wasn’t one of his usual titles, but Ming could still picture the hearty belly laugh from the mountain of a man at the description). The Imperial Palace was nothing if not a place for decadence. 

Maybe that was what had spurred on the thoughts of the Brothers Sun to bring them to believe they had any right to assault the heavens. They rose in this palace, dancing in the sky just short of ascending to the levels of the Celestial Bureaucracy. They’d have been told that, as the scions of the Imperial rulers, the inheritors of the Empire, the heirs of Sagacious Tien himself, they were above all mortals. Why wouldn’t they try to reach that extra distance into the sky itself?

Perhaps he should suggest to the soon-to-be Empress that there was too much distance, metaphorical and literal, between the Palace and the people...

So lost in his thoughts, he didn’t even register the intruder to his room until his vision filled with the distinctive blue pants and exposed chest of his lover. Sky’s chuckle drew him back to the mortal world.

“Now, what have we here?” he said, his grin practically audible. 

Despite the weight of his thoughts, Ming returned the smile. “A very tired Spirit Monk.”

“Tired, eh? Too tired to savor the fact that we’re in the Imperial Palace of all places?”

“Unless you intend to run off with everything that’s not nailed down around here...” Ming shook his head, amused at his lover. He knew that Sky recognized all the issues of this moment, this point in time. He probably understood it more – he’d seen Ming die, had seen Ming DEAD... That was a reality that he’d yet to really feel like he wanted to wrap his head around. 

Sky gave the room an appraising look. “There probably is quite the market for anything from here. Though I think I’ll try to avoid getting on our new Empress’s bad side.” His grin turned mischievous. “At least, for the time being.”

“Considering that the Empress knows who you are, that’s probably wise.”

“Though it might give me a chance to outdo “the Scourge of the South” when it comes to earning the Empire’s ire.”

Ming groaned, wanting to forget the name that the Lotus Assassins had attached to his deeds in their demands for the Imperial City to turn him over. Mercifully, their description of him had been so far off base, he’d been able to walk the streets without concern, but his lover certainly wasn’t inclined to forget the ridiculousness any time soon. 

Ming pulled himself up to a seating position, since it was clear that Sky was here to settle in, at least for the time being. “I suppose it is a good thing that this time we actually get to enjoy the luxuries of being in the Imperial Palace.”

“As opposed to wading through rivers of blood?” Sky nodded. “There are definite advantages to this second visit.” A moment, then Sky’s expression wavered. “You know... It almost killed me, watching you fall.”

So. Maybe they’d be having that discussion now. 

Ming thought it over, then shrugged. “I don’t really remember it as... much more than when I’d passed out from the Water Dragon’s visions.” Sky had been there for a couple of those, had seen Ming collapse in a heap, only to pull himself back up a few moments later, speaking of the mysterious blue woman. “It was more painful, of course.” Li’s strikes had been unexpected, even as he’d felt something off about the way he’d approached the Water Dragon’s heart, and said there was more to discuss. Li had encouraged some skepticism on the part of his student. It just hadn’t been enough to prevent him from inflicting that devastating blow. “But... for me, it didn’t feel like death.” Perhaps that had been because of the Water Dragon’s influence, that she’d protected and prevented him from truly dying there.

“It looked different.” Ming wasn’t surprised to hear that, knowing that there would have to have been something about it that made it all the worse for those watching – Sky, Dawn Star, Silk Fox, they’d been some of his closest companions. They’d been through much with him. Of course they’d be pained and horrified to see him go down, and they’d almost certainly have been able to sense the difference, even without the distinction of how he’d been brought down by the Master he’d spent so much time and effort to reunite with. “When you fell... It was like my life had ended too. When you didn’t rise... If the others hadn’t been there, if I hadn’t felt like we needed to get out of there...” Sky couldn’t meet Ming’s gaze as he spoke. “I’d been unable to save Pinmei. And then... I thought I’d lost you, too.”

There was a solemn silence between them with that, Ming not knowing what to say to that. He ultimately reached out, taking Sky’s hand and entwining their fingers. “You didn’t. I’m here. We have the chance to let this be... whatever we want it to be. And, with the Emperor gone, Li dead, the Water Dragon returned to the Great Wheel... I think we’ll have time to decide that.”

His words had the intended effect, making Sky smile, looking to him. “And that? That is why I’m so glad to love you.” He pulled Ming into a kiss, sighing into the act. He’d seen the unthinkable, but the Water Dragon had made the unbelievable true and brought Ming back to him. It was something like out of one of the tales told by a parent at night to help their restless child get to sleep – that Sky had told Pinmei, as Ming’s parents were denied the opportunity to do so for him – and yet they could both see the reality before them.

Sky gently began to move his focus from Ming’s lips to first his neck, then his shoulders. He’d been longing for a chance to become intimately familiar with that marvelous dragon tattoo on his back, their night at Dirge having too pressing business for them to do more than simple touches. 

“You are... magnificent,” Sky murmured against Ming’s skin. He pulled back to meet Ming’s gaze. “That we met due to tragedy is a shame, but... I consider it the greatest gift of my life that we met.” His hands, resting at Ming’s waist, began to gently rub against his hipbone, an intimate gesture that made Ming barely suppress a gasp of pleasure. 

Ming nodded, not sure if he trusted his voice to stay steady – After the seemingly near-constant combat he had been in over the last few weeks, even with their brief reprieve in Dirge, the feeling of any touch on his skin meant to bring pleasure, not inflict pain, managed to send his senses reeling. Too many people had come near him with the intent to kill for him to easily drop his guard, or so he’d thought. Yet as Sky had touched him, it was as if Ming’s mind had shut down, only allowing any conscious awareness of the pleasure.

Finally, he steadied himself with a shuddering breath, reaching out and cupping Sky’s cheek. “Sky... You gave me reason to want to come back. You know that, right? How much I love you?”

“I think that we can spend the rest of our lives proving that to each other,” Sky grinned. He pulled back a moment, though his kept his hands near Ming’s waist. “I wonder what else we’ll be doing with our lives, though.”

There was a thought. The next step for them would be figuring out a life now. Ming had never really thought about what the future would hold to any serious degree – he’d expected that, after his training at Master Li’s school had concluded, he might wander the Empire, learn more skills, eventually found his own school. The Empire, he’d thought, was at peace, and the martial arts were as good as a form of meditation and spiritual centering, one could always learn more.

And then he’d travelled the Empire and used his skills to kill. Even if it had been in self-defense, there was a part of him that hadn’t even begun to approach the fact that he’d dipped his hands in so much blood. 

As much as a part of him was horrified at the number of people who had died in combat against him, he held no delusions – his refusing to fight would have led to his death, the death of others, the continued rule of Sun Hai, or, even worse, Sun Li. He knew that it had been a case of killing or being killed. 

Still, now that he had done so, there was a weight on his shoulders, and he wasn’t sure if he could simply become a teacher like Li had presented himself as. 

And there was much else that he felt he needed to learn at this point. Not about the martial arts, but his heritage.

“I think... I’d like to go back to Dirge,” Ming said. It was soft, more a comment to himself than to his lover. 

“That... would be something.” It clearly seemed a surprise to Sky. He thought it over. “On a permanent basis, or...”

“I don’t know yet.” The air in the room had shifted, becoming a different sort of heaviness. Sky pulled back, recognizing that Ming’s mind was not in a place to focus on no more than each other. “I just... I should have had the chance to know it as home. Li took that from me.”

Sky’s expression darkened briefly at the mention of Li. Despite being fully aware of the skill of the Glorious Strategist, a part of him wished he’d still been able to repay him even some of the pain he’d inflicted upon the Empire, and, by having killed Ming, even if it hadn’t stuck, Sky personally. Still, Li was dead. The Empire was at peace. That would have to satisfy him.

“Do you intend to rebuild the Spirit Monks, then?” Sky asked, now curious about the possibility. 

“I don’t know. The Water Dragon... I think she moved all the lingering spirits of the other Spirt Monks from Dirge, which... I don’t know if there would be anything that would record anything about their histories, about their abilities, their duties... It might easily be like starting entirely from scratch.”

Sky was silent in contemplation. He’d had enough time to develop an idle concept of perhaps taking over the Guild – there was a void in leadership with Gao the Greater and Kai Lan the Serpent dead. He might have a challenge in gaining power within the organization, but he had a thought that, after what she’d seen in the Imperial Arena, Sweet Poison Lyn might be inclined to give him some support, knowing his connection to the champion. But if Ming would be in Dirge, rebuilding the Spirit Monks, or studying them, or whatever he would be doing there...

“It would be pretty lonely out there on your own, you know. I can’t imagine you would have many who would make the journey to Dirge.”

Ming was aware of that difficulty. With everything had been spoken of about the Spirit Monks, they were more than just servants of the Water Dragon, but keepers of the natural order, many of them nomadic, drawing in lost and wandering spirits. There were so many lingering spirits, given the twenty years of unrest in the Empire. 

“I expect I’ll have to travel the Empire, gather the spirits left to wander and take them back to Dirge.” Thinking about it, Ming supposed Dawn Star would make a valuable addition to any attempt to revive the Spirit Monks, but he wasn’t going to ask her to join up yet. She had suffered a great shock with the reveal of Sun Li as her father, a father unconcerned about her. She would need time to understand who she was now that she had the answers she’d thought would never come.

Sky nodded, understanding the difficulties that faced Ming. He was going to be the only Spirit Monk for some time, even if he were to immediately rebuild the entire order. He even had to figure out what would make a Spirit Monk – was it innate, could it be taught, how would he rebuild the numbers that the Emperor had wiped out?

“You’re going to have a long, difficult task ahead of you if you do, you know.”

“I do.”

“It’s a good thing you’d be doing it with someone at your side, isn’t it,” Sky said with a smile.

Ming looked to him, returning that smile. “I wasn’t going to ask it of you.”

“Then it’s a good thing that I’m offering, isn’t it?” Sky caressed Ming’s cheek. “I am not letting you face the future alone. You may have defeated two Emperors and Death’s Hand, but surely someone out there will want to try and avenge them.” A dark look passed his face. “It’s almost certain that there are Lotus Assassins out there who will resent Empress Silk Fox disbanding their order.” It had been a command almost as soon as she’d gotten someone to recognize that she would be on the throne soon enough.

“There’s a pleasant thought...” Ming murmured. But it was a reasonable assumption. The Lotus Assassins had been the Emperor’s enforcers for long enough, they were almost certainly not going to go quietly. 

Still, Sky knew he’d made a point. “Not that I think they’ll manage to get too far, but it’s always better to face trained killers with someone at your back, no matter how skilled you are.”

“I appreciate it anyway.” Ming sighed. “We’re not going to get to just peacefully go off into the sunset, are we?”

“Now where would the fun be in something so simple as that?” Sky laughed.

**Author's Note:**

> This really did almost turn in the direction of porn, but, alas, they had serious topics to discuss. Maybe next time.


End file.
